This article was written by Jordan Robinson and originally appeared at AltMuslimah. It’s a hard lesson for many of us to learn: how to be confident, strong and bold while maintaining a healthy balance of humble demure with friends, family and elders. It’s usually a lesson that involves us trying to prove our maturity, leadership […]

This was written by Jordan Robinson and originally published at AltMuslimah. Much has been written about Abdalrahman Zeitoun (known to everyone by his last name), the protagonist of Dave Eggers’ new non-fiction book Zeitoun. The story recounts Zeitoun’s efforts to save his neighbors after Hurricane Katrina pummels New Orleans and subsequent flooding devastates the city. […]

This originally appeared at AltMuslimah and was written by Uzma Mariam Ahmed. A recent headline article on CNN.com written by CNN correspondent John Blake entitled “Muslim Women Uncover Myths About the Hijab,” attempted to expose the “myths” surrounding the hijab. Though the title implies that the article contains insightful analysis of the popular misconceptions surrounding […]

This piece was written by Guest Contributor Asma T. Uddin. Asra Nomani’s recent piece in Marie Claire, “My Big Fat Muslim Wedding”, underscored everything that is wrong with Marie Claire’s coverage of Islam and Muslim women.  Nomani’s piece was a confused narrative at best, conflating culture with religion and individual bad experiences with larger truths […]

This was written by Zehra Rizavi and originally published on AltMuslimah. An attractive Arab woman in her mid-30s, wearing a silver silk hijab and high-collared matching silver blouse, looks into the camera and says, “Recently, in Qatar there has been talk of providing sex education to the youth. Subjects [would] include dealing with sexual desires, […]

This was written by Tasnim, and originally published at AltMuslimah. The post-9 /11 period has seen a proliferation of texts on the Muslim world which fall under the genre of the travel narrative. In recent years this has included a wave of personal accounts by journalists reporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, such as […]

This post was written by Farah Banihali and originally appeared at AltMuslimah and Nuseiba. Last month Melbourne was host to “Forever Barbie” – an exhibition which “celebrates 50 years of a pop culture icon.” I’ve had my fair share of Barbie dolls when I was younger, but an exhibition? Since when did Barbie become an […]

This was written by Allison McCarthy and originally appeared at GlobalComment. Tina Brown’s ploys for self-promotion are numerous, but her latest piece, along with a follow-up interview on CNN, takes the cake. Brown, former editor for noted U.S. magazines such as Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Talk, has always maintained some problematic notions of […]

This is a slightly edited version of an article written by Sahar, which originally appeared at Nuseiba. You can also read Yusra’s take on the debates. Recently, I saw the Doha Debates, which is a show that debates controversial political, social and religious issues.  Journalist and mediator Tim Sebastian proposes a motion and the speakers […]

This was written by Elise Auerbach and originally published on Human Rights Now, the Amnesty International USA blog. Ordinarily, human rights activists would be pleased when the rare major motion picture shining a light on human rights violations comes along. In fact, aside from documentaries, it is very unusual to see issues that Amnesty International […]